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1 Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen to earth from the sky, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.

2 When he opened it, smoke poured out as though from a huge furnace, and the sunlight and air turned dark from the smoke.

3 Then locusts came from the smoke and descended on the earth, and they were given power to sting like scorpions.

4 They were told not to harm the grass or plants or trees, but only the people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

5 They were told not to kill them but to torture them for five months with pain like the pain of a scorpion sting.

6 In those days people will seek death but will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them!

7 The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. They had what looked like gold crowns on their heads, and their faces looked like human faces.

8 They had hair like women’s hair and teeth like the teeth of a lion.

9 They wore armor made of iron, and their wings roared like an army of chariots rushing into battle.

10 They had tails that stung like scorpions, and for five months they had the power to torment people.

11 Their king is the angel from the bottomless pit; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon—the Destroyer.

12 The first terror is past, but look, two more terrors are coming!

THE SIXTH TRUMPET BRINGS THE SECOND TERROR

13 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice speaking from the four horns of the gold altar that stands in the presence of God.

14 And the voice said to the sixth angel who held the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great Euphrates River.”

15 Then the four angels who had been prepared for this hour and day and month and year were turned loose to kill one-third of all the people on earth.

16 I heard the size of their army, which was 200 million mounted troops.

17 And in my vision, I saw the horses and the riders sitting on them. The riders wore armor that was fiery red and dark blue and yellow. The horses had heads like lions, and fire and smoke and burning sulfur billowed from their mouths.

18 One-third of all the people on earth were killed by these three plagues—by the fire and smoke and burning sulfur that came from the mouths of the horses.

19 Their power was in their mouths and in their tails. For their tails had heads like snakes, with the power to injure people.

20 But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk!

21 And they did not repent of their murders or their witchcraft or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Wow. Verses 1 and 2 sound to me as though a large meteorite hit the earth in a place that caused a volcano to erupt. I don't know if that's even possible.

I always thought the description of the locusts reminds me of helicopters. Maybe i've watched too many disaster movies! But if there were to be such a deep, erupting volcano, perhaps helicopters with missiles launch their missiles into the volcano to cause an explosion in hopes of closing it?????? (The missiles being the power to sting.) On the other hand, I can't imagine anything like a helicopter or a real insect with hair like a woman's.

I mean, all we can do is guess on these verses of prophecy. We're watching through John's eyes, who had never seen anything like what he was striving to describe.

Then again, they were told to hurt people but not grass or trees. I don't know what can do that. Electromagnetic warfare would kill everything run by electronics, but not life.

I don't want to go through torture for 5 months. A disease that takes 5 months to kill a human, maybe? These verses are why I've always been very scared of scorpions! I've never been stung by one, and I don't want to be. And yet those 5 months only make up the first terror.

Have you ever felt terror? I don't think I ever have. I've never watched horror movies. I HATE being afraid and I refuse to watch things that make me feel afraid. The worst thing I watched was the first Jurassic Park movie. I was exhausted from being afraid for the kids being in danger. I never watched another one. And that's just make believe. I can't imagine being in real life terror.

The 4 angels bound at the Euphrates River. Are they bound there all the time - are they bound there right now?

1/3 of humanity is killed by 3 plagues. I'm guessing that during past plagues that were so deadly on earth people thought they were in end times.

I wonder what percentage of humanity has been killed by abortions on earth? To me, abortion is a plague. By far, more humans have been killed by abortions than in the Holocaust, which is just unfathomable how humans could try to wipe out a complete group of people just because they are God's chosen people.

It always scares me how 1/3 of all the angels chose to follow the enemy satan. But then, I remember - 2/3 of all angels did NOT follow evil. That means there are 2 of God's angels fighting against every demon. That's why I include that in my morning prayer. I know the evil has no chance against twice as many of God's angels.

In verses 20-21, people who survived STILL did not repent and follow God. That is just like in Genesis when the Israelites were held in bondage by the Egyptians. Even through the plagues, the people said - we'll let the Israelites go...TOMORROW.

There was a gospel song my pastor sang in the 70s called "One More Night With the Frogs."

The chorus went:

One more night with those stinkin' frogs,
One more night in sin,
I had a terrible time with them last night,
But I just gotta do it again!

Why are we humans like that? The misery we know, as opposed to the misery we don't know?

I was also taught that witchcraft in the Bible (vs 21) was also combined with the use of drugs.

I used to think there were two times in the Bible it would be wonderful to be alive - one to see Jesus born and one to be in the end times.

But in reality I'm probably wrong. I can't imagine having to watch Jesus be crucified and murdered. That seems unbearable to me. Poor Mary and disciples. Even if you totally believe Jesus would rise in 3 days in glory, it doesn't mean it wasn't horrible to watch him suffer.

And in reality, actually having to live through the tribulation (were there no Rapture as some believe) is much worse than the movies portray. The movie I watched showed those who refused to take the mark of the beast being beheaded. Beheading is quick. 5 months of pain as the sting of scorpions is much worse.

And even worse would be watching people you love being in torment. Revisiting the book of Revelation brings me back to the reality that it will be a horrible time to be alive.